March 19, 1990 Orem, Utah
Dearest John; Roy, Patrice & Emily; Bob, Claire, Michael, Laura, Brett & Katie; Rick, Jean, Ricky, Barbara Jean, Mary Ann & Sarah; and Ron, Ann, Susanna, Jessie, Russell, LeeAnna & Jimmy:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE EMILY!!! Emily is two years old today - we're wondering if you are going to have a little party for her. I guess the rule at her age is to have a friend for every year she is old - is that right? We surely do miss her and hope she has a happy day.
We are having a beautiful day today and it is nice and warm - Daddy and I didn't even have to wear coats this morning when we walked. Daddy dug two holes for rose bushes on Saturday and transplanted two of those bushes we had out by our mail box and he wants to do about four more - they are gorgeous roses and he thinks they will do better out in back by our fence where they will get more sun. He is also anxious to get more of that black dirt from the lake and put it in the flower boxes on the hill so when the time comes he will be ready to plant his flowers!!!
Did you all have a Happy St. Patrick's day? Patrice - did you have a party? I remember that you did last year. We went to a party at church and would you believe we forgot to wear green? The young people had a "Grandparent's Party" and it was really fun - we played all kinds of games and then had cookies and punch. I wore red and Daddy was in brown & blue - it didn't even occur to us to wear green - everyone else was in green so we felt dumb!!! People in Utah really celebrate all the holidays and we love it - our neighbors had a big party and they had green balloons tied to their lamp post in front.
The Woolleys invited us for St. Patrick's' cake and ice cream yesterday - the cake was yellow but the frosting was green. We loved visiting with them and especially being with the children ªLeeAnna didn't feel very good because of a flu bug and Susanna had sprained her wrist but it didn't slow them down very much. We chose the times for our Lake Powell trips in 1991 - we doubt that we will get the times we picked because of the way they have to do it but we'll see. Ron has a good idea - he would like to have a "barge" type of trailer to pull behind a ski boat. We could load the barge with all the things needed for camping - tents, cooking equipment, ski equipment, etc., etc., and then pull it to a good spot and unload. That way we could go whenever we wanted to and not even worry with the houseboat. I have always wanted to take our trailer to Lake Powell and stay in it and then just ski & fish from the shore but I guess the place they let you put your trailer is quite far from the water. Lake Powell is such a neat place to go and it's kinda' hard to not go at your own convenience instead of having to follow a schedule.
We had a really fun day on Friday. We left here about 7:30 in the morning and drove to Manti for the wedding of Ramona & Winstons' grand daughter. It was a beautiful day and a lot of Daddy's family was there. Daddy's parents spent much of their life in that temple so it was very meaningful to them. After the wedding, Daddy & I went to Elly's pharmacy which is owned and run by their son Jim. Callene (Jim's wife) has a florist shop in the drug store and she fixed some flowers for Daddy to take to the cemetery for his parents' graves. Then we drove back to Orem where we went to a luncheon at Prestwich Farms Restaurant for the bridal couple. It was very nice - there were about 60 people there. After that, three of Daddy's sisters came over to out home and they all discussed genealogy. We visited and had fun together until it was time for the reception and then we all went to that. We had spent the whole day getting Debbie married but it was wonderful and we loved it - they will live in Logan where he is going to college.
Daddy & Ray went to Piute Dam fishing on Wednesday afternoon. The weather forecast was for warm sunny weather and they were SO excited - they went in Ray's camper prepared to spend the night. Wednesday evening I was SO surprised to look out the window and see it snowing - I fully expected to see them come back home that very night. They did spend the night but came home early afternoon on Thursday - they said it was SO cold and windy they didn't even unload the boat from the camper. Ray had taken his four-wheeler so they rode on that and hunted rabbits. We don't have much faith in the weathermen anymore - Ha!!!
John & his roommate had fun on Saturday participating in those "war games". I don't really understand how that works but they came home covered with that red stuff and I guess they wouldn't have survived a real war. John is doing good - had to have his car tuned up and they found lots of things to fix that probably didn't have to be fixed but that's life in the automobile business. I still think we need a good auto mechanic in our family. We're sold on Toyotas - Daddy took our van in for a tune up and that's all they had to do.
We're having our Family Home Evening group here tonight. I don't have to fix a dessert - we are going to Chuck A Rama for dinner and then will come here to play cards. One of the ladies in our group just participated in a golf tournament in St. George and she missed the "big money" by one stroke - she'll tell us all about it tonight.
We surely hope you're all doing good. The Lake Powell trip scheduled for April 21st to 28th should be fun - are just the men going? The Woolleys plan to go the 26th, 27th & 28th because that is a school holiday for their children. Daddy wants to take Ray and his fishing boat if the weather is good. I would do the meal planning, preparation and buying if you all want me to. John will NOT be able to go unless it works out that his tests are early enough in the week so he is through - that is the end of the Semester for him. We love each one of you so very much. PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL.